Why is it that a catholic girl married to a muslim man CANNOT celebrate her religous festivals? even though she is married to a muslim she still remains a catholic. shouldnt she be able to worship what she belives?.

Praise be to Allaah.

If a Christian girl agrees to marry a Muslim man, then she
should be aware of a number of things:

1 – The wife is commanded to obey her husband, so long as it
does not involve sin. No differentiation is made between a Muslim wife and a
non-Muslim wife with regard to that. If her husband tells her to do
something that is not a sin, then she is obliged to obey him. Allaah has
given this right to men, because they are in charge of the family and are
responsible for it, and family life cannot run smoothly unless one of its
members is in charge and is listened to and obeyed. But this does not mean
that the man is allowed to dominate or exploit this right in order to
mistreat his wife and children, rather he must strive hard to do a good job,
to offer sincere advice and consult with them.

But life is not free of matters that need to be settled in a
decisive manner. The Christian girl needs to understand this principle
before she goes ahead and marries a Muslim.

2 – Islam allows marriage to a Christian or Jewish woman,
i.e., it permits a man to marry such a woman whilst she continues to follow
her religion. The husband does not have the right to force her to become
Muslim, or to stop her worshipping in her own way. But he does have the
right to forbid her to go out of the house, even if she is going to go out
to go to church, because she is commanded to obey him. He also has the right
to forbid her to commit evil openly in the house, such as setting up statues
or ringing bells.

That also includes celebrating innovated festivals, such as
Easter, because that is an evil action according to Islam, in two ways. It
is an innovation for which there is no basis, like celebrating the birthday
of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and Mother’s
Day, and it also includes false beliefs, namely the belief that the Messiah
was killed and crucified, then placed in the grave, then rose from it.

The truth is that ‘Eesa (Jesus – peace be upon him) was not
killed or crucified, rather that he was taken up to heaven alive.

The husband does not have the right to force his Christian
wife to give up these beliefs, but he may denounce her open profession of
falsehood. We have to differentiate between her right to continue following
her religion and her manifesting evil deeds openly in his house. An example
of that is if the wife is a Muslim but she believes that something is
permissible, whereas her husband believes it is haraam. He has the right to
stop her doing it, because he is in charge of the family, and he is obliged
to denounce whatever he believes is wrong.

3 – The view of the majority of scholars is that the minor
issues of sharee’ah are addressed to the kaafirs, as well as the command to
believe. This means that things that are forbidden to Muslims are also
forbidden to them, such as drinking alcohol, eating pork, introducing
innovations or celebrating them. The husband should stop his wife committing
any of these actions, because of the general meaning of the verse in which
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“O you who believe! Ward off yourselves and your families
against a Fire (Hell) whose fuel is men and stones”

[al-Tahreem 66:6]

Nothing is exempted from
that except the beliefs and acts of worship that are prescribed in her
religion, such as obligatory prayers and fasts. The husband should not raise
any objections to that. Drinking alcohol, eating pork, and celebrating
innovated festivals that have been invented by rabbis and priests, are not
part of her religion.

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The
husband has the right to stop her going out to the church. This was stated
by Imam Ahmad with regard to a man who had a Christian wife. He said: He
should not give her permission to go out to Christian festivals or
churches.

And he said concerning a man who had a Christian slave woman
who asked him to let her go out to attend their festivals and churches and
gatherings: He should not give her permission to do that.

Ibn al-Qayyim said: The reason for that is that he should not
help her with regard to the means of kufr or give her permission to do that.
And he said: He does not have the right to forbid her to observe fasts which
she believes are obligatory, even if that means that he misses out on
intimacy with her at that time, or to forbid her to pray towards the east in
his house. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
allowed the Christians of Najraan to pray in his mosque, facing towards
their “qiblah” (direction of prayer). End quote from Ahkaam Ahl
al-Dhimmah, 2/819-823.

The fact that the delegation of Christians from Najraan
prayed in the mosque of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) was also mentioned by Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him)
in Zaad al-Ma’aad, 3/629. The commentator said: its men are thiqaat
(trustworthy), but it is munqati’ (interrupted) – i.e., its isnaad is da’eef
(weak).